Reason to love the A's today - They put their prettiest rookies in drag
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Arlington, Texas -- The pressures of the pennant race were forgotten for a while Sunday when the A's did their annual rookie hazing, dressing the team's rookies in outlandish costumes.
The highlights included closer Huston Street dressed as a scantily clad schoolgirl, Keiichi Yabu in a geisha outfit (both of those included wigs), and pals Nick Swisher and Joe Blanton as electrical socket (Blanton) and plug (Swisher).
"Oh, yeah, they're definitely a circuit,'' said starter Barry Zito, who has been in charge of procuring costumes for four years, ever since making a splash in a wedding dress as a rookie in 2000.
Of Street, Zito said, "He looks good in skimpy clothes.''
"Huston, you're hot!'' said first baseman Dan Johnson, dressed as a bottle of mustard.
Zito and cohort Dan Haren were going to give Yabu a break, figuring that 11 years of Japanese baseball exempted him, but Yabu was a good sport and didn't want any special privileges.
"He wanted to be part of it; isn't that cool?'' Zito said.
"It's a good event,'' Yabu said with a laugh. "I'm not the only one, so it's not too intimidating.''
Huston Street (not in drag)
